Daryl Morey Addresses Elton Brand’s Future With 76ers After Extension
Before Daryl Morey took over as the Philadelphia 76ers’ President of Basketball Operations, the front office relied on its General Manager, Elton Brand, to make basketball-related decisions.
While Brand maintains that position today, the addition of Morey in 2020 was a collaborative decision put together by the Sixers’ Managing Partners, Josh Harris and David Blitzer, along with Brand.
Amidst his fourth season running the Sixers’ front office, Morey received a contract extension. On Friday, the Sixers officially announced the move, confirming he would remain in Philly through the 2027-2028 NBA season, aligning his timeline with first-year head coach Nick Nurse.
“I was thrilled that ownership came and said, ‘Look, we want to keep this group together.’” Morey said on Friday. “By this group, he means myself, he means Elton Brand, he means Nick Nurse, he means Joel [Embiid], he means Tyrese [Maxey], he means all the key people who are driving winning here.”
For Morey, extension negotiations with Harris and Blitzer didn’t take too long once it became apparent that the team wanted to ensure they kept him around for longer.
“I think Josh and David, you know, again, that was private discussions between them and they said, ‘Hey, we've got a really solid thing going here, that's giving us a very good chance to win the championship, and let's keep that together.’ So they reached out to me, and it's been recently just in the last couple of weeks,” Morey said.
Since Morey took the lead in the front office, Elton Brand has mostly remained behind the scenes of the operation. Yet, he’s quietly been a significant helping hand for Morey. Therefore, Morey hopes the former player-turned-GM is next in line with an extension of his own.
“Again, this is a group we would like to keep together,” Morey said when asked about Brand on Friday. “Hopefully, there’s an announcement along those lines in not too long.”
